The Corpse Bride

September 23, 2005 | 7 Comments

Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride was fantastic. It was everything I had hoped for. It’s funny, whimsical, engaging, visually stunning and more. Burton and his team have put together another classic that I’m quite sure will stand up to the test of time.

Fans of Burton’s work are sure to love it. Those who are simply looking for a fun time, well, you’re going to get that and more.

It wasn’t quite as good as A Nightmare Before Christmas. But A Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies ever. For some reason, for me anyway, it’s pretty hard to compare the two. In fact, I thought The Corpse Bride would be more similar given Burton’s style and the fact that much of the same creative team was working on the project.

Aside from the overall visual style, which is undoubted Burtonish, the only large similarity was a good one—Danny Elfman’s gorgeous songs and soundtrack. The music was very, very good and fit the movie perfectly.

The “acting” was terrific. The voiceovers fit very well and I’m simply amazed at the life and expression the animators are able to bring to the characters. And the characters themselves are classic. The dead are a truly motley crew. Collectors take note.

But this one is mostly about the eye candy. The visuals and style are, again, all Tim Burton, but if you love his work you’ll be in heaven. I especially liked the design of the dead and their world. It was kind of reminiscent of Bettlejuice. The contrast between the living and the dead was great, with the dead having all the color and life and the real world all grey and sad. It makes for an interesting backdrop to an interesting story.

What amazes me most, and what most of Burton’s movies great, is his ability to combine art with story. He does that here and it really hits the mark. The Corpse Bride is a great movie. One of the best this year. But don’t take my word for it, go out and see it!

My rating: 5 out of 5

Filed under: Movies
Keyword Tags: the+corpse+bride tim+burton

Comments

1. andr3 said:

I’ll catch this as soon as it hits the theatres around here. ;)

As a big fan of A Nightmare Before Christmas, like yourself, i am currently at the mouthwatering phase.. waiting..

The contrast between the living and the dead was great, with the dead having all the color and life and the real world all grey and sad.

^ That’s so Burton-esque! haha

This is like the dream-team getting together again. Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. How can we avoid getting our hopes up? ;)

Glad you liked it.

Posted on September 23, 2005 09:57 PM | #

2. Bryan Veloso said:

You saved me the work of reviewing it myself. I also loved the movie for the same reasons you did Keith. Not many movies have me repeating, “wow that movie was really great” after I’ve seen it. Definitely getting the DVD when it comes out.

Posted on September 23, 2005 10:23 PM | #

3. Web Design Ireland said:

Sounds wonderful! You lucky divils over there in the US getting to see it long before us Euro heads. This has been the most anticipated film of the year for me and if what yousaid is true (Which I doubt is not) and Tims “NBC” style is maintained, this should be talked about for a long time more.

Posted on September 24, 2005 05:00 AM | #

4. Jorgeq said:

Thanks for the review! I had a chance to catch a behind the scenes on E! in the making of this movie and it’s amazing how time consuming it was to bring this film to life.

I’ll add it to my list of movies to catch this weekened, aside from Flightplan.

Posted on September 24, 2005 05:15 AM | #

5. Jason G said:

If you haven’t already checked it out I would recommend the website for the movie. While it is an all flash website it is very impressive http://corpsebridemovie.warnerbros.com/.

Built by the folks over at Blitz

Posted on September 24, 2005 09:18 AM | #

6. DaveMo said:

As a child I was raised with access to, and an appreciation for, the dark humor of Chas. Addams and later Gahan Wilson and Edward Gorey, so I also love most of Burton’s stuff. If you’ve ever seen any of his personal artwork and cartoons, you can get a feeling of how movies like Nightmare Before Christmas and now The Corpse Bride must be the most fully realized of his artistic visions.

Ice it all with Danny Elfman’s tasty-twisted music and songs, and you’ve got another macabre, devil’s food movie masterpiece!

Sadly enough, I probably won’t get the chance to see this at the theater; it’ll definitely be at the top of my Netflix list when it’s released on DVD!

Thanks Keith!

Posted on September 24, 2005 10:54 AM | #

7. Scott said:

I thought it was visually stunning as well, but felt the story started to lag a bit towards the end.

If you liked Burton’s other works or especially A Nightmare Before Christmas - this one shouldn’t be missed. Try to catch it while it’s still in the theater.

Posted on September 25, 2005 05:59 PM | #